Gary E. Seibert

September 4, 1938 - May 10, 2017

About Lewy Body Dementia

Lewy Body Dementia is a type of dementia that affects about 5 percent of people over the age of 85 each year, and it is estimated that up to 20% of those diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease may actually be suffering from Lewy Body Dementia. Though Lewy Body is not very well understood, the effect that this disease has on its victims is similar to having both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's at the same time. Like all dementia, the first effects tend to be agitation and forgetting little things like where you set your keys. Gradually, things begin to get a lot worse. Confusion of why things are harder to remember starts to set in. Forgetting names of even people who are most important to you can occur as well. Eventually, even family members can be forgotten which can be hard on those who are forgotten. This disease is not only hard on the patient, but the caregivers as well because of the gradual decline in the health of the patient.

This disease was identified by Friedrich H. Lewy while researching Parkinson's disease. He found that abnormal protein deposits were in not only areas of where they are in Parkinson's, but in other areas of the brain like the cerebral cortex. Today, this disease affects about 1.4 million families in the United States. Like other diseases, there is no cure for this disease. However, there are different medications that can be used to help with some of the anger.

Many efforts are put into finding a cure for disease such as Alzheimer's and other types of dementia. For example, there are thousands of walks each year for Alzheimer's disease. Because Lewy Body Dementia is not very well known, there are little efforts to help raise money. LBDA (Lewy Body Dementia Association) has created a walk in Atlanta, Georgia to help raise awareness for this disease.